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Providing light relief in the sunshine were a dozen residents from the Snowdonia Donkeys sanctuary at Fferm Moelyci . Having trekked the 2.5 miles to the showground from Mynydd Llandegai, their redoubtable handlers made the return trip on foot after competing in the main ring.

“All our visitors went home with a smile on their faces,” said Alwyn.

“We had a steady flow of people arriving at the showground and, as it was such a nice day, no one was in a hurry to leave!”

As feared sheep numbers were down, a trend widely predicted given new movement regulations and the harsh spring, which left exhibitors behind with their preparations.

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Eyebrows were raised when Trading Standards officers visited the showground to take photographs of animals and facilities.

However organisers were reassured this was only to highlight the show’s good practice: among the improvements introduced this year was the use of barriers, rather than ropes, to safeguard spectators around the equine rings.

Elsewhere S4C presenter Ioan Doyle toiled in the heat with his fellow shearing competitors. Neither was there much respite in the marquees, where exhibitors defied sultry conditions to stage magnificent displays of cookery, crafts and horticulture.

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Topping the sheep entry was a breed unaccustomed to interbreed glory, not least in Welsh hill country. The judge’s tap went to a two-year-old Berrichon ewe from Gwyn Williams, Bro Aled, Derwen, Corwen , and shown by granddaughter Eleri Messham.

For good measure Gwyn’s Berrichon trio also took the reserve supreme group title. He believes the French breed is a coming force in Welsh sheep farming, offering an easy-lambing alternative to the Texel as a terminal sire.

“I’ve had Berrichons for a few years now but I started buying good quality stock in 2015,” said Gwyn, who now has 20 breeding ewes.

“They remain an under-estimated breed in Wales. I’ve experimented with them on my Lleyns this year and I’ve got excellent, meaty lambs out of them.”

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Gwyn bought his supreme ewe at a breed society in-lamb sale at Welshpool last November. Bred by William Williams, Tudweiliog, his choice was backed by Eleri, a Chester-based nanny who visits her grandparents at every opportunity and who may take over the flock in the future.